Unit Overview-1st grade NF reports

1st Grade Non-Fiction Research & Writing:
This project was a collaborative effort orchestrated by the teacher-librarian working with classroom teachers, with support from Educational Technology.

Blabberize (Non-Fiction Animal Reports)--Student Examples:

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Standards:
1. Information Literacy & Technology, Standard 2: Research and evaluate Information;
2. Reading Standard 5: Read to locate, select, and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference and technological sources;
3. Writing Standard 2: Write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences;
4. Science Standard 3: Know and understand the characteristics of living things (investigating animals).

Overview of Lessons and Collaborative Work:

Teacher-Librarian, Suzanne Frachetti
1. Model and teach the use of a graphic organizer and basic note-taking to all 1st grade classes;
2. Model and teach the use of non-fiction text tools (i.e., table of contents, headings and subheadings, pictures, etc.) to locate specific information within a source;
3. Model and support classroom instruction on how to use notes from a graphic organizer to create a non-fiction report with good organization, word choice, expression and varied sentences;
4. Model and teach how to select, copy and save an image from the internet onto the computer desktop;
5. Model and discuss with all classes the importance of reading with fluency and expression when recording their scripts. Show a variety of example and critique using a rubric.

Classroom Teachers: Joyce Huggard, Brenna Markson, Andrea Estrada and Sara Thomas:
1. In-depth instruction of strategies and skills to support applicable reading and writing standards;
2. Individual/small group instruction and support for the writing of the non-fiction animal reports from notes taken on graphic organizers during library skills classes, including editing and reading for fluency and expression;
3. Lessons/discussion of various types of animals (mammals, reptiles, etc.) and their habitats.

Educational Technology Support, Dr. Candy Stocker
1. Provide guidance and collaboration with the teacher-librarian on the creation of a wiki website to produce student work and the use of Blabberize, a web 2.0 tool;
2. Assistance with recording student scripts and creating animal "blabbers."